The present invention relates to printing that uses a consumable. More particularly, the invention relates to printing a print job after the availability of the consumable has been estimated to be sufficient to print the print job.
Most types of printing devices are equipped with items that are used up and/or have a life cycle during printing operations. These items can include one or more printing supplies, a printing media (e.g. paper) available to be printed on during the printing, a printing substance (e.g. ink, toner, etc.) available for application to the printing media during the printing, a laser printer drum, a laser printer developer, a laser printer fuser, a printing media transfer belt, staples for stapling the printing media during the printing process, a storage volume that is available to store paper that has been printed on by the printing device, and the like. These items are referred to herein as replaceable components. When a replaceable component is exhausted or is at the end of its life cycle, the replaceable component must be replaced and/or replenished in order for the printing device to continue to function properly. For example, a replaceable component can be refilled when it is exhausted, or a container that contains an exhausted replaceable component can be removed and a full replaceable component installed in a printer to provide a refilled printing supply for the printing process.
Replaceable components can be manufactured with memory which can be placed on the replaceable component itself or within a label affixed to the replaceable component. This memory is typically used to store printer-related data that the printer reads to determine various printing parameters. For example, the memory may store the model number of a toner cartridge so that the printer may recognize the toner cartridge as valid or invalid for use with that printer. The memory could be both on the replaceable component and/or maintained on the printer.
As documents are printed, the replaceable component is gradually depleted. The printer can communicate with the replaceable component to determine when a state of exhaustion (e.g. an end-of-life condition) has been reached. Once the replaceable component is deemed to have been exhausted, the printer may stop printing. The printer is also typically configured to resume printing when the replaceable component is replaced. The cessation from printing can occur at any point in a print job that a user has requested and has been waiting for. The user cannot determine, prior to scheduling the requested print job, whether or not the replaceable components needed for the requested print job are sufficient to complete the requested print job. Frustration can arise for the user where the job is scheduled yet can only be partially printed by the printer due to an unforeseen lack of one or more replaceable components. Consequently, there is a need for improved methods, computer-readable media, and host computing systems that provide a user with advance notice as to the availability of a replaceable component for a print job.
The above-stated needs and/or others are met, for example, by calculating a requirement of a replaceable component to print a print job at a printing device. A diagnostic is output if an availability of the replaceable component at the printing device is less than the requirement. The requirement and the availability are approximations expressed in a number of pages and the requirement is derived from a predetermined use per page of the replaceable component at the printing device.